A Little Village man blamed his “anger against Palestinians” and around immigration when he admitted to spray-painting “ICE rules” and swastikas on several buildings in Little Village, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Philip Dominguez, 39, faces 10 total counts of misdemeanor criminal property damage and felony hate crime for alleged vandalism on a grocery store, two community organizations and a local politician’s office. He appeared Tuesday in a first-floor courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building before Cook County Judge Ankur Srivastava, wearing a blue Spider-Man T-shirt.
Dominguez first allegedly spray-painted a swastika over a window of the Chicago Liberation Center that displayed a Palestinian flag in the early hours of July 19 before he appeared on surveillance footage painting the same symbol on a building belonging to the community services organization Latinos Progresandos, according to Assistant State’s Attorney John Kyle.
He then allegedly painted more swastikas on the “Free Palestine” mural on the wall at the La Fruteria grocery store, and state Sen. Celina Villanueva’s district office, prosecutors said. All of the buildings vandalized, except for Villanueva’s office, are near West Cermak Road and South Washtenaw Avenue. The office of Villanueva, a Democrat, is farther south, in the 2500 block of South Central Park Avenue.
The next night, prosecutors said Dominguez returned to La Fruteria about 1:30 a.m. to spray-paint “ICE rules” on the wall.
When he called the Ogden (10th) District police station to turn himself in Saturday after seeing himself in news reports about the property damage, Dominguez allegedly said he’d been motivated to vandalize the buildings out of “anger against Palestinians and Latinos regarding issues related to Palestine and supporting immigration,” prosecutors said.
An assistant public defender said Dominguez is a Little Village resident who regularly attends church, attended Farragut High School, works as a Walmart stocker and lives with his mother. His mother and a few other women were in the courtroom Tuesday, and Dominguez appeared to nod to them as he made his first appearance.
Srivastava ordered Dominguez released on the condition that he not have contact with victims and witnesses to the alleged vandalism, keep up weekly check-ins with his assigned pretrial officer and to avoid the organizations, district office and grocery store.
Srivastava, in setting the terms of the release, said he was trying to balance Dominguez’ as-yet clean criminal history and ties to the neighborhood with the severity of the allegations, which he said he didn’t often see.
“Hate speech is terrible,” Srivastata said. “While this is not a violent offense it is certainly a harmful one. No child should have to walk down the street and feel they are not welcome in their community.”
Asked if he understood the conditions of his release, Dominguez replied, “Yes I do, loud and clear.”
Dominguez is next set to appear in court Aug. 1.
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